Alabama was street of entertainment on Saturday night - Brazil Times

August 12, 2018 5:11 PM

IVY JACOBS photo. Order this photo. As the sun set on Brazil's Alabama Street, the Hunter Smith Band took the stage at the annual 'BAMA Fest. The crowd wasn't only at the BAMA Fest. Many people brought their lawn chairs and enjoyed the concert on the... Continue Reading

Sustainable plant-based sneakers, plastic wrapper-free frozen treats, living algae lamps and spirulina furniture, eco-friendly vintage jeans, and solar panel-equipped speakers sounds appealing to savvy consumers of 2019, but claiming "green" doesn't always mean sustainability. Companies, from large corporations to small start-ups are aiming for the growing demand in organic products and sustainable lifestyle innovations for the less generous reasons than eco-psychologists and nature's enthusiasts. Even the Coca-Cola company loved by millions and according to experts in Imperial College, London containing chemicals "found in rust remover, steel cleaner, and cement" pumps millions of dollars in plant bottles constructed of 30 percent of the bio-based material to meet market demand. To be honest, there are not as many sustainable products as advertised only some of them have a positive net green others offer an elusive idea of being eco-friendly.

Zone 7 Water Agency, which serves Pleasanton, Livermore, and Dublin offers rebates for up to $4,500 for a commercial and multi-family property lawn conversions and $750 maximum for a single-family residences.

If you are a water customer in good standing with the agency, you're visible from side-walk lawn has an existing in-ground sprinkler irrigation system you can apply for the rebates water program. At least fifty percent of the area must be covered with

Recently in Los Angeles, water shortages are becoming more and more important to the city. Los Angeles officials are doubling their water-wasting patrols. Currently, they have one assigned inspector to investigate the city's neighborhoods. With these alerts, many residents are thinking of switching to artificial grass to save the water.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) reported to the city's press that it now assigned four water-wasting inspectors, but officials noted that their primary goal will be more towards educational than enforcement. Within six month of this year, their department received 1,400 reports of violations and handed out 863 warnings letters. But so far, relatively few fines have been issued, even though the state rules allow penalizing water wasters $500. They believe that the warning will decrease the water usage and inform the residence of a potential penalty. However, the penalizing fee is reserved for people who simply refuse to help out the state. During three-year observation, the DWP got about 30,000 reports of water violations, from those about 9,000 warning were issued. But only about 300 were assessed fines when they were found to have wasted water again, and of those, none became multiple offenders the first fine. Los Angeles city currently is in Phase 2 of a mandatory water-conservation ordinance, which means watering the yard no more than three times a week and never on weekends.